


He Can Only Love Her

by reinlovehart



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, Boarding School, Dark Betty Cooper, Fanfiction, Multi, My First Fanfic, Secret Relationship, Secrets, Sweetwater River (Riverdale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-07 08:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19080940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reinlovehart/pseuds/reinlovehart
Summary: [A BUGHEAD STORY]Two boarding schools on either side of a river. One for girls, one for boys. Both strictly forbidden to interact. Cheryl Blossom and Jughead Jones are the two most respected people in both schools. They're part of the inner circle. Nobody dares cross them.Betty Cooper joins the school and unintentionally runs into Jughead Jones. THE Jughead Jones of the boys' school. And what happens when two stars collide? A black hole forms and hell breaks loose.





	1. The Schools on either side of the River

It was a place like no other. It was serene, and hidden far from the cities. Nothing could compare to it’s magnificent landscapes. Nothing could compare to the calming flow of its local and well-known river. The wildlife living throughout its fields gave some of the best sites one would ever come across. It was a place many would dream of living in. It wasn’t a town, no. Not even a village. In fact, there wasn’t a single house in sight.

This was the home of two great boarding schools. The Sweetwater Academy for Girls: one of the best schools in the country, with thriving facilities and high expenses. Next to the girls, The Sweetwater Academy for Boys. Again, one of the best America had seen. Between these two schools ran the famous Sweetwater river. In this part of the region, there was only one way across: a bridge a couple kilometres down the valley from the schools.

Both schools were strictly forbidden to interact. The girls would stay on their side of the river and so would the boys, and they especially wouldn’t mix.

The headteacher of the girls’ school was a woman called Evelyn Evernever. The headteacher of the boys’ school was her husband, Edgar Evernever. Together, they ran both academies and were both, surprisingly, very well-liked. They seemed kind and seemed like people you could trust. Yet nobody really chose to trust them. In fact, nobody really talked to them. They were usually hidden away in their own offices most of the time.

However exciting the schools seemed, it was nothing but money keeping most of its students in school. Sure, they were bright. But only a few were exceptional and had gotten accepted with scholarships.

Each school had a head girl or a head boy. Not selected, but these were the people everybody knew were in charge.

For the girls, it was Cheryl Blossom. The HBIC. She was really pretty, yet mean and spiteful and came from one of the richest families in the country. Nobody dared cross her, not even some of the teachers. Her heart was, truly, made of ice.

For the boys, it was Jughead Jones. Jughead Jones. The most attractive boy at the school. Girls would spend hours gossiping about him late at night and dreaming of even making eye contact with him. He was a celebrity between the two schools. He was feared, all right, possibly more than Cheryl. But people knew he had a soft spot for certain people.

One of those people was Cheryl Blossom herself. They were dating. In secret, of course, but everybody knew and everybody wished they could be them.

If you somehow managed to end up in their inner circle, you would be respected for the rest of your time at the school. The inner circle were all mostly Sophomores - fifth-years. The years below them would look up to them like Gods and Goddesses. Even the years above them respected them massively.

Sweetwater Academy: one school, but split apart because of what happened between them. That was in the past. For now, they were two separate schools with only one secret passageway where some would go to meet the others. Yet, inner circle only. Many people outside the inner circle knew of the passageway but not exactly where it was. And only few of them tried to look for it, found it and suffered the consequences of doing so.

The inner circle was like a group, a gang, and they called themselves The Serpents. People dreamed of joining the group and being part of whatever was going on inside. All except one.

Betty Cooper was new and had just joined the girls’ school at the start of the month. She was quiet and reserved but people would whisper behind her back. The thing is, she was so incredibly beautiful. Girls secretly envied her. Boys would see her for the first time and their jaws would drop. She kept to herself, though, and was humble; trying to lead all the unwanted attention away from her.

She met Toni Topaz, a girl that she shared a dorm with and they became friends. Toni was short with faux pink hair and a great fashion taste. She was also reasonably popular and liked all around, but she wasn’t part of the inner circle - only few had that privilege. She, like almost all others, knew about The Serpents, of course, and so she told Betty.

Betty was different. She didn’t really care. True, she was curious and wanted to know more about what happens in the inner circle, but she never dreamed of joining them like many others, including Toni. She was more focused on her education and was one of the brightest in her year. Betty, being one of the only few, actually got in with a scholarship and so, she didn’t want to mess it up. Her family wasn’t usually able to afford much and they were all delighted when they heard she was accepted.

Some weeks past of the first term and she slowly began to make more friends and feel more welcome. It was going to be a fantastic year, she knew it.

Until the day she saw Jughead Jones for the first time and looked into his eyes, and he looked back.


	2. The Girl with Faux Pink Hair

September 1st. A new month and a new school year. 

Riverdale was almost a whole 2-hour-drive from Sweetwater Academy. After sitting in a taxi, surrounded by bags and bags of her belongings, Betty arrived at the school beside a river. 

She was escorted through huge metal gates, along with her luggage. The facade of the building glared back at her. It didn’t seem all too bad, she thought.

Walking inside, through two majestic doors, she immediately noticed all the eyes darting to her direction. She could hear people whispering, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Some were nice and smiled at her as she walked down the first corridor. Others weren’t so. They gave her dirty looks and backed away.

This was high school. Although it was a boarding school, it was still high school. And she knew she had expected this.

“Through here, Miss Cooper.”

A man lead her past some classrooms, and to the end of a corridor - to the reception.

There were staff - mainly women - working at their desks. The man lead her towards the front desk where there sat an old, kind-looking reception lady. He told her to register herself in, as he picked up her belongings and headed out of the reception.

“Um… excuse me,” Betty spoke. The lady at the desk didn’t look up.

“Excuse me,” she repeated, raising her voice. The woman looked up at her and smiled. “I’m new. I’m here to get registered.”

“Ah, yes! You must be Elizabeth Cooper!” the woman said. Betty nodded. “Of course, dear. I’ll get you all set up. In the meantime, why don’t you take a seat over there.”

She pointed behind Betty to a nice seating area. Betty said thank you and went to sit down. 

Overall, the school seemed good. It was clean, spacious and modern. The reviews all said it was outstanding. Most of the girls seemed likeable and friendly. The teachers sounded great and experienced. Maybe moving to boarding school wasn’t a bad idea after all.

Betty saw the reception lady approaching her and so she stood up. The lady wasn’t alone, though. Next to her was a girl with faux pink hair, wearing black and red. She seemed quite short, if she wasn’t wearing those black ankle boots, and she was smiling.

“Elizabeth,” began the lady, “this is Antoniette Topaz. She’ll be your peer mentor. Also, your roommate for the rest of your time here.”

“Hey. People just call me Toni,” the girl said, holding out her hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Betty replied. “I’m Betty.”

She then turned back to the reception lady.

“Elizabeth, you’ll find your timetable in your dorm where the rest of your bags are. Lessons begin on Monday. So over this weekend, Toni will help you get settled in.”

“Thank you,” Betty said to the lady, just as she smiled and walked off.

She was now alone with Toni Topaz.

“She’s a nightmare, right?” Toni said to Betty, smiling, and looking back at the reception lady.

“Well, I think she’s nice, to be honest,” replied Betty.

“Dangerously nice.”

Together, they walked out of the reception. First-years were running around the corridor. Other girls were gossiping in groups. It was all so happy. Almost too happy.

“So, Betty, welcome to Sweetwater Academy. What made you decide to come here?” Toni asked as they walked outside together into the courtyard. 

The courtyard was beautiful. So many flowers and plants: well-kept and tidy. Full of people laughing. The sun was shining brightly in the clear, blue sky.

“I got accepted here with a scholarship after I passed the entrance exam. It was easy, really.”

“You must be really smart, then. That test is meant to be difficult,” Toni turned to Betty and said. “I passed it too and came here first year.”

“So you’ve been here for quite a while. What’s it like in an all-girls school?”

“Ha! To be honest, worse than being in a mixed school! Some girls here are just bitches with a whole load of money. For example, Cheryl Blossom.”

She pointed to the other side of the huge courtyard. There, stood a group of girls. And standing in the middle of all of them was a girl with red hair, wearing all-red as well. She was rather pretty too.

Next to her was a girl a bit shorter. She had short black hair and was dressed in designer purple - also pretty.

“That’s Veronica Lodge. We used to be friends, believe it or not. But after she became friends with Cheryl, we stopped talking.”

Then there was a dark-skinned girl wearing cat ears. The two girls beside her were also wearing cat ears.

“And those are the Pussycats. They’re nice, pretty and very talented as well. Everyone likes them except for the fact that they’re friends with Cheryl.”

Toni then pointed the other girl out. She was big, tall and, again, really pretty. She had short curly red hair and freckles.

“Ethel Muggs. I haven’t really ever talked to her. She’s smart and she hangs around Cheryl. All the time. But she doesn’t seem like one of them. Maybe Cheryl makes her rub her feet and do her homework or something, I don’t know,”

Betty and Toni laughed. They walked down a path past the main building of the school - to the dorms. The field on the school premises was full of girls: lying on the grass or having picnics and chatting.

They walked past them all and eventually reached another building. This was separated from the rest of the school. It was the dormitories. The building was huge and smelled fresh and clean.

The two of them took the lift all the way up to the seventh floor, right at the top. They reached the outside of a room where all of Betty’s belongings had been brought up earlier.

She took out two keys and handed one of them to Betty.

“This is our dorm.”

Betty walked in and her mouth dropped in amazement. This was nothing like she had pictured. She’d pictured one small room with a bunk and a small bathroom. Instead, this dorm was huge - almost like an apartment.

There was a sitting room as she walked in, clean and luxurious. On the other side of the room were massive glass windows that slide open to the balcony. There was a TV and, in the corner, a small kitchen area.

A door beside the kitchen led into a gigantic, modern bathroom. It was so much bigger than she had imagined.

Opposite, towards the other side of the sitting room were two doors that led into two separate bedrooms. They were, as well, quite big and Betty’s bedroom had a window with a great, picturesque view of the sunny countryside.

“It’s… It’s incredible,” Betty muttered, still unable to believe her eyes.

“It is, isn’t it? It’s great. And now you’re here, I finally have a roommate again. My old one moved out last year.”

The school was astounding. Betty never thought it would be like this at all. She’d made a friend as well - Toni Topaz. They seemed to be getting along very well.

This was going to be better than she thought. Finally, a good school providing a great education. Maybe nobody would judge her anymore. 

Maybe she just had to keep to herself more. She had Toni, and that was great. But she didn’t want to let absolutely everybody into her life.

Betty had a secret. And maybe this school was her chance to not worry about it anymore and just live her life being normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed Chapter 2 :)


	3. Jughead Jones: the Famous Heartbreaker

A couple of hours had passed since Betty arrived at Sweetwater. She’d spent those hours unpacking in her dorm and getting settled in with Toni.

Toni was great. In just the two hours she’d spent with her, they were already amazing friends. She was extremely likeable and funny: Betty could easily tell why so many people liked her.

They talked about all sorts of things on the couch in front of the television. Favourite shows, favourite books - favourite everything, to be honest. But there was one subject that, in fact, did not come up. As Betty stepped out onto the balcony in front of the sunset, she saw it and watched it for minutes-on-end, flaming with wonder.

“The Sweetwater Academy for Boys.” Toni walked out onto the balcony with two cups of iced tea and handed one to Betty.

“...What?”

Toni looked out into the fields, past the river, and pointed out the buildings Betty had been pondering over. It wasn’t too far from where they were - perhaps a kilometre away. “There. It’s like our school, but boys only.”

“Why are these two schools separate, then?”

Toni hesitated. Something consumed her. It was a subtle look of concern… maybe even regret, or guilt.

“Well… something happened. Between the girls and the boys.”

“What happened?” Betty asked. She saw the look of dread on Toni’s face and thought that maybe she should never had asked in the first place.

“...More specifically, between a girl and a boy. It happened… three years ago. Back then, the schools weren’t separate. There used to be a bridge… connecting the two school sites. But they destroyed it.”

Betty understood Toni through her words. She was rather gifted in sensing emotion in others and she knew that Toni probably didn’t want to talk about this. Wisely, yet reluctantly, she decided to change the subject.

“So, do you know anybody from there? I bet the girls and boys meet up a lot, right?” Betty said with a smile.

“No, actually. We’re forbidden to. Did nobody mention that before you came?”

“No,” Betty said. “Why are we forbidden to see each other?”

Toni fell silent again and hesitated. 

Betty wondered what possibly could have happened forcing the school to separate into to. But she simply nodded and didn’t ask again.

After a long pause, Toni spoke again. “You know, you’re part of this school now. Therefore, you have the right to know something.”

“Know what?”

“Something the teachers don’t know about, and never will, okay?”

“What is it? You can trust me.”

“The Inner Circle.”

Betty paused in wonder. The Inner Circle. What was that meant to be? A TV series she’d never heard of?

“Yeah, it sounds like some weird adult drama show, right?” Toni carried on, almost reading her thoughts. “It’s nothing about the name at all, though. It’s about what they really are.”

Both of them looked out into the countryside. The sun was still setting, slowly and blissfully.

“The Inner Circle,” Toni continued, “is a small group of students from both of our schools. They meet up and have some sort of business in secret. Nobody knows what they do, but they’ve never been caught.”

These schools definitely just became a whole lot more interesting.

“People say that they use a secret passage below the river that connects our schools together. Some say they have a hideout underground where they meet.”

“How many people are part of this Inner Circle?” Betty questioned.

“We can’t know for sure, of course, but I would say maybe five or six from our school and another five or six from the boys’.”

“Do you… know anybody from The Circle?”

“You’ve seen the supposed leader yourself. Co-head: Cheryl Blossom.”

It was the red-headed girl she’d seen in the courtyard before.

“Co-head? You said co-head? Who else is-”

“That would be Jughead Jones.”

There was another pause. Jughead Jones. Why did the name sound familiar? Most people would raise their brows when hearing the name ‘Jughead’ for the first time. Not Betty. She could swear she’d heard the name somewhere, yet she couldn’t grasp where.

“Jughead Jones,” Toni carried on with a smirk. “He’s a bad one, he is. The baddest boy of them all. People practically worship him. Girls pine over him. Even boys, in fact. I couldn’t blame them because, trust me, that man’s good-looking. And everybody loved a bad boy.”

Betty laughed. “So do you like him?” she turned to Toni and asked, in a joking manner.

“What? No, of course not!” Toni replied, blushing. “Besides, no girl, or boy, could have ANY chance with him. He’s straight, and he’s already dating someone. Cheryl Blossom.”

“They’re dating?” Betty repeated, surprised.

“They are and have been for almost a year. And they won’t be breaking up any time soon, let me tell you.”

Did Betty really know this school at all? She’d learnt more in the past two minutes than she had in the past two hours.

“Wait! I have a photo of Jughead Jones, if you want it.”

Betty was smirking. “Why do you have a photo of him? And what makes you think I’d want it?”

“Like I told you before, Betty, I’m quite passionate about photography. Half the time, I don’t even know what the hell I capture.”

They both walked back inside, laughing, and went into Toni’s room. It was spacious and looked cool, with dark red walls and a sleek, black carpet. There was a collection of shoes in the corner - all mostly black and heeled - and posters on the wall. In the opposite corner was a chest of drawers, and on top, were Toni’s collection of photography cameras.

“Here’s the guy,” said Toni, as she opened a drawer and pulled out a photo of Jughead Jones.

It wasn’t very clear, as she had taken in from all the way across the river, but Betty could still make out his features. He wore a black, leather jacket above a t-shirt and skinny, black jeans. And his beanie: he wore a grey, woollen beanie on his head. 

Betty stared at the photo. She couldn’t completely make out his face, a little, tiny part of her though Toni was right. He almost did seem like a blessing in disguise. Now she understood why so many people fell for this man. Jughead Jones: the famous heartbreaker.

“Oh. So you like him?” Toni joked.

“What? No,” Betty replied quickly. “He’s not even that attractive.”

It was true. She didn’t like him. She didn’t like him at all. Or at least, that’s what her brain was silently whispering to her. But then she felt something. It came from the pit of her stomach. She had never felt it before. 

And so she looked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Comment your thoughts and/or what you'd like to see in future chapters :)


	4. A Child Of Wedlock

Only a kilometre away, the boys and men of Sweetwater Academy were arriving this Friday evening for another year at the school. Summer break was long and tedious for some, and for others, passed by in the blink of an eye.

Jughead Jones and Archie Andrews were in their dorm unpacking and settling in for the year. Jughead and Archie had been best friends since before they both came to this school. They’d been friends since they were just 6-years-old and had stuck by each other’s side all these years.

Along with them were Fangs Fogarty and Sweet Pea. Those weren’t their real names. In fact, nobody knew what they’re real names were - nobody but the locked-away school files hidden away where no one could find them. For now they were notoriously known as the duo that loved to cause havoc. The word of their reputation was even passed down to the other side of the river - to the girls. They were like brothers, although, not by blood. They were feared. But not more than Jughead Jones himself.

He was made of ice and fire at the same time. It wasn’t his actions people feared about him, no. In fact, Jones was one of the smartest and most admired person in both schools and he had his whole future lay out ahead of him.

It was his past, his legacy, that people feared.

He was the son of the infamous Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Second. Just like Jughead, he lived rogue and was the local teenage heartbreaker.

Back when the schools were together, Forsythe Pendleton Jones began dating Gladys - a striking girl of his age, so beautiful and respected. She wasn’t a rule-breaker like Forsythe was. Instead, she was shy and smart, and modest. They were the complete polar opposites of each other. 

Yet, they loved each other. They truly loved each other, and anyone - any stranger - could see the connection they had.

Until one day, Forsythe disappeared.

For weeks, the school was in complete shock and fear. For weeks, the Police searched and searched for him. But there wasn’t a trace.

Gladys, being his girlfriend, was especially heartbroken. Her grades dropped and she became shut off from the rest of the school.

The whole truth is that she wasn’t only Forsythe’s girlfriend - she was the mother of his baby.

And she gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy nine months later, naming him Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third - in his father’s honour.

Nowadays, everybody called him Jughead. And even Jughead himself rarely called himself by his full name.

It was like everybody was sorry for him - and it’s true, they were. Jughead never knew his father and was born out of wedlock to a schoolgirl. But now he practically ‘ruled’ the schools and nobody argued with him.

***

“Hey, Jug,” Archie turned to Jughead and began. “Look.”

Archie pointed out of the balcony window and Jughead walked over and looked out too. Their view overlooked the whole girls’ school and was directly opposite - though hundreds of metres away - from Cheryl, Veronica and Josie’s dorm. 

The girls had hung a bright purple scarf to the railings on their balcony.

Jughead nodded to himself. He walked back inside, and out again, but this time holding a bright blue scarf. He went up to the railings and attached it tightly.

This was how they passed messages along to each other. Although maybe texting or calling would have been so much easier, it was more risky. They didn’t know who could be listening in on their conversations. So whenever the Inner Circle needed to meet up, they would give each other a signal. And when the others had received it, they would give it back. It was as simple as a scarf.

Jughead turned to his three friends.

“We’re meeting tonight. Usual time, usual place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is much shorter! It's just an introduction to the boys' school and the Inner Circle. The next chapter, I think, is where it all really begins ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited for this story! Thanks to whoever is reading, it means a lot. I have a lot planned to make sure to save this story and stay tuned ;) Thank you!


End file.
